


Eyes

by AlwaysCryOverSpilledMilk



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 22:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7241725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysCryOverSpilledMilk/pseuds/AlwaysCryOverSpilledMilk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Yamato-taichou is... dead?" </p><p>When Naruto informs Sai of their friendly captain's gruesome passing, Sai doesn't know how to feel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eyes

Sai had been at home, painting, when it had happened.

It had so far been a regular off-duty day for him. He'd spent the majority of the day shut up in his apartment painting to his heart's desire, only leaving once when Sakura had invited him out to visit a scenic waterfall area she believed he would find worthy of his paintbrush. He'd been calmly and contentedly alone the rest of the afternoon, and had happily allowed a thick sense of peace to fall around him and easel.

Well, it was peaceful until a certain jinchuuriki had shattered it with his sudden loud knocking on Sai's door. Sai sighed and set down his brush, proceeding to walk over to his front door. He opened it up to reveal none other than the eccentric Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hello, Naruto," he greeted flatly. "How was your mission with Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-taichou?"

"It went... alright. We took out the target and almost his entire following, but... Listen, Sai, I gotta tell you something..." Naruto replied, seemingly unsure of how to word anything at the moment.

"Yes?"

"...can I come in?"

"Yes, of course." Sai stepped back to make room for his friend to step inside, shutting the door after he did so. He led Naruto to the single gray couch he had and sat down beside him. "So, what is it that you wish to tell me?"

Naruto looked up to make eye-contact with the paler boy. "Sai... You see, Yamato... H-he was... killed." Naruto watched Sai carefully for any kind of reaction to his proclamation.

Sai paused. "Yamato-taichou is... dead..?"

"Yes..."

Sai paused again. "How did it happen?"

Then it was Naruto's turn to hesitate. After recalling the painful memory, he spoke. "It was... gruesome. One of the primary target's more skilled subordinates somehow got him in a horrible genjutsu... I have no idea what he was seeing, but... whatever it was, it was so bad it made him literally gouge his own eyes out... Kakashi tried to get him out of it, but neither of us could do anything. During the genjutsu, another one of the enemies... sort of, ah... dismembered him. I wanted to help him so bad, I'm sure Kakashi did too, but there were so many other guys on us both..."

"I see."

"I'm so sorry, Sai." Naruto took Sai's hand in his own in an attempt to comfort him. Even if Sai didn't outwardly show it, Naruto could tell he was somehow being affected by the news. "I know you and he were close. I'm sorry I couldn't save him for you."

"I... I do not know how to feel. None of my books have spoken of how one feels in this situation." Sai looked down at their conjoined hands. "How am I supposed to feel, Naruto?"

"I can't tell you how to feel, Sai. That's up to you." Naruto used his free hand to poke Sai's chest right over his heart. "Look within yourself. Then you'll know."

"Alright. I will try. Thank you, Naruto, for informing me of Yamato-taichou's death."

"You're... welcome, I guess. Will you be okay if I leave?"

"Yes. I can assure you that I will be fine. You may go if you wish."

"Okay." Naruto gently slid his hand out of Sai's grasp and stood. "I'll see you later, buddy." Then he left, leaving Sai alone again.

"Well," Sai said to himself after the door had shut. "This is all rather... unanticipated." He sat still for a few minutes before suddenly being inspired for a new painting. He stood, grabbing a new easel from his closet and getting to work.

/\/\/\/\/\

Early the next day, Naruto dropped by Sai's apartment again with some ramen for breakfast. When he knocked and no one answered, he figured Sai wouldn't mind all that much if he just let himself in. So, he did. He opened the door quietly and stepped inside, leaving his shoes at the door. He found Sai asleep on the floor beside an easel. Naruto assumed he fell asleep painting again, if the brush hanging limply from Sai's hand was anything to go by.

Naruto set the take-out bag on the table in the small kitchen area, before going back out to the main room. It was then that he noticed what Sai had been working on before his exhaustion got the better of him.

He was a little startled by what he saw when he looked at the illustration. It looked exactly the same as how he had described the process of Yamato's death to Sai. The Yamato in the picture was on his knees, one of his hands pulling helplessly at his eyes, the other reaching for a kunai, as a faceless man stood behind him, looking just about ready to swing his long blade down. He also saw a second faceless man in the distance, undoubtedly the ninja doing the genjutsu. Naruto then took note of himself and Kakashi both standing near the edge of the page, looking rather horror-stricken. It was beautifully depressing, and it hurt to appreciate the perfection of it.

After taking in every single detail of Sai's newest painting, he knelt down beside the artist. He lightly shook Sai's shoulder until the other boy's eyes fluttered open. "Morning, sunshine," Naruto said, helping his friend stand up. "Fall asleep on the job again?"

Sai looked at him. "Naruto... I-it hurts."

Needless to say, Naruto was instantly concerned. "What hurts, Sai? Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Sai paused, honestly having expected Naruto to know exactly what he was talking about. "My heart. My head. My body. My everything hurts, Naruto," he said.

"What's wrong, Sai?"

"I... Yamato-taichou is d-dead..." Sai answered, his voice cracking uncharacteristically at the end. He was instantly enveloped into a tight and warm embrace, which he found oddly nice, and he was quick to sink into his friend's comforting arms.

"How do you feel, Sai?" Naruto asked, tightening his hold on Sai a little more when he felt the other boy shake slightly in his arms.

"I... It just... It hurts, Naruto. It hurts to think about never being able to see him again. I need him, but now... now he is gone, and I cannot spend any more time with him. I... I believe I miss him, Naruto."

"Sai..." Naruto slowly led Sai over to the couch and sat down, letting Sai continue to cling to him for comfort. He held one of the painter's hands and used his other arm to soothingly wrap it around Sai as he held him close to his side. "Sai, did you have feelings for Yamato?"

Sai removed his face from Naruto's side and curiously looked into the blonde boy's eyes. "Feelings?"

"Did you love him?"

"I do not know." Sai paused briefly before asking, "Naruto, how did you know you were in love with Sasuke?"

Naruto smiled at the mere thought of his boyfriend. "Well, I really didn't know for a while. Not until Kakashi talked to me about how obvious we both were. Which... I guess that's what I'm doing for you now. I'm here to say that you and Yamato obviously had something between you. I think everybody saw it. With Yamato it was a bit more obvious since he knows more about what love really is, but if you looked closely enough, you could always see the small signs that you yourself gave off. Sai, I'll be the one to say it. I really think you and he had so much sexual tension that it could almost rival the tension between me and Sasuke at one of his family dinners I'd go to."

"...really?"

"Really. And that's saying something, considering Sasuke normally can't keep his hands off me, so anytime we're someplace he knows he can't touch me, he gets crazy tense."

"I..."

"Think about it, Sai. Think about anytime you and he had talked or made contact. Don't actually tell me, but think about how you felt."

Sai laid his head back down on Naruto's warm hard chest as he thought. He remembered the way Yamato's touch would always burn his skin, the way his mood would always lift the instant he saw Yamato, the way he'd pathetically long for him when Yamato went on missions without him, and the way Yamato's words always meant so much more to him than anyone else's. He thought back to one specific instance, when Yamato had come to Sai's apartment immediately after he got back from a month and a half long mission. Sai had welcomed him heartily and had hugged him tightly, so glad to finally have him back. Yamato had laughed and kissed the top of the younger boy's head happily in response. Sai hadn't realized until now just how much he wished Yamato had kissed him on the mouth.

"I believe you may be right," he said finally, his eyes wide in realization that everything he'd read about love he felt for Yamato. "But it's too late," he said sadly, a tear or two sliding from his dark eyes.

"It's okay, Sai, Naruto said, running his fingers through Sai's dark locks calmingly. "He'll rest better knowing you loved him, too."

"I..."

"You can cry now, Sai."

And he did. Whoever thought Sai was completely emotionless was dead wrong. Naruto knew this better than anyone. He didn't say anything as Sai cried into his orange shirt, not caring it was getting wet. He rubbed Sai's back comfortingly until he felt the artist fall asleep in his arms. Naruto still didn't move, though. He knew Sai needed him right then, and he had no intention of leaving until he was physically kicked out.

**FIN.**


End file.
